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Stratford Square Mall
Stratford Square Mall is a shopping mall, opened on March 9, 1981, in Bloomingdale, Illinois, a northwestern sub of Chicago. The 1,300,000-square-foot (120,000 m2) mall has six current anchors: Kohl's, Sears, Burlington Coat Factory, Cinemark, Wild One Harley Davidson and Round One Entertainment. There are also three vacant anchors, last occupied by JCPenney, Carson's, and Macy's. Also, there are three restaurants, Red Robin, 25 West Brewery and Nunzio's Italian Cuisine. In contrast, Stratford Square’s location is slightly maligned. Like some other struggling Chicago-area super-regional malls, such as Randhurst and Charlestowne. Stratford Square is not located directly on any expressway or interstate highway. Stratford Square is one of the two major shopping centers in Bloomingdale, the other being Bloomingdale Court. The closest major routes to Stratford Square are U.S. 20, a slow surface road with many lights, located a couple miles away, and I-355, a major north-south thoroughfare through Chicago’s western suburbs, located about 4 miles to the east. Unfortunately, though, this retail synergy between the mall and its retail environs peaked sometime in the 1990s. Beginning in the 2000s, Stratford Square and its retail corridor began to slide, punctuated by the departure of original anchor Wards in early 2001. The slide was precipitated by competition, access, and national trends, and during the balance of the 2000s Stratford Square developed more vacancies and began a slide toward obsolescence. History 1980s Stratford Square Mall opened on March 9, 1981 with four anchor stores which were Wieboldt's, Montgomery Ward, Marshall Field's and Carson's. It also had a four-screen movie theater. The Mall was owned by JMB Urban Development. After Stratford Square opened, many big box-anchored strip malls opened in the coming years to complement the mall, mostly along Army Trail Road and Gary Avenue. In 1985, MainStreet opened on the northeast corner as the fifth anchor store, but became Kohl's in 1989. Taco Bell was built in the mall's west outlot area in 1987. Wieboldt's became JCPenney in 1988 shortly after The Wieboldt's Chain went bankrupt. 1990s In 1990, Sears opened on the east corner between Kohl's and The Movie Theater, becoming the sixth anchor store. The 90’s began the start of considerable change. Nearby Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg completed a renovation and expansion, gaining the top spot in consumers’ minds for the region. In 1995, La-Z-Boy (now closed) was built on the west corner outside of the mall. In 1996, The Room Place opened outside the mall on the southwest corner. In 1997, Barnes & Noble opened across the street from the mall. On November 15, 1999, the mall completed a major renovation. It remained open and customers were able to continue shopping throughout the renovation. Improvements included new flooring throughout the center, additional elevators and escalators, enlarged restrooms including two family rooms, comfortable seating areas and an expanded retail area on the lower level. A new water display was a major focal point of center court. Entrances would be more visible with the addition of enhanced signage and lighting; and automatic doors would be available at each mall entrance. 2000s In 2001, stores began to closes and the mall seemed to be losing interest in people. Also, Montgomery Ward closed along with the other locations, because of bankruptcy. It was replaced by a Burlington Coat Factory in 2002. Also in 2002, two Marriott hotels, Residence Inn and Courtyard were built south of the mall. A New York-based company called Feldman Mall Properties acquired Stratford Square Mall in early 2005. A Steve and Barry's also operated at the mall from about 2006 until 2009, until that chain folded as well. Marshall Field's was converted to Macy's in 2006, along with the other locations, such as Woodfield Mall and Oakbrook Center. Cinemark Century Theater opened on July 4, 2007, which was a renovated four-screen movie theater. It now has 16 all-digital screens, a cappucino bar, marble flooring, and stadium seating. After the movie theater renovation, a Red Robin restaurant was added next to the theater. In late October 2014, Red Robin officials stated their plan to remodel their restaurant to introduce their new "Gourmet Burgers and Brews" concept, which would feature both indoor and outdoor seating. Over the years, the mall has been plagued, as many malls, with struggling chains and vacating stores as they try to adapt to the changes in the economy and how people are changing the ways to shop and buy with the use of online options, instead of supporting tradition brick and mortar storefronts. 2010s In October 2011, the computerized fountain in the central square next to the food court was replaced by a carousel, which is now located in the lower level of the Burlington Coat Factory wing. In early 2012, the second floor hallway entrance of the Burlington Coat Factory was blocked off. In Early 2014, Stratford Square was acquired by StreetMac LLC. On January 15, 2014, JCPenney announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 33 stores nationwide. The store closed on May 3, 2014. It remains vacant as of now. In late October 2014, Red Robin officials stated their plan to remodel their restaurant to introduce their new "Gourmet Burgers and Brews" concept, which would feature both indoor and outdoor seating. In 2015, Round One, an entertainment center that includes bowling, karaoke, arcade games, billiards, darts and ping pong, opened on the lower level of the Carson's wing. On January 4, 2017, Macy's was announced that they would also be closing as part of a plan to close 68 stores nationwide. The store closed on March 26, 2017. Later in June 2018, the mall announced that Woodman's Food Market would demolish the Macy's building and build a new store with no mall entrance. In The Fall Of 2017, Wild One Harley Davidson opened to customers. A 25 West Brewery opened the following year as part of a plan to change the tenant mix to 40% retail/60% entertainment and dining. On April 18, 2018, Carson's announced that they would be closing as well as parent company The Bon-Ton was going out of business and closing all of their locations. The store closed on August 29, 2018, along with the other locations. As of right now, none of the remaining anchors are original to Stratford Square - Burlington Coat Factory opened in 2002 and was originally a Montgomery Ward; Kohl's was originally a MainStreet built in 1985; and the Sears was added in 1990. Anchors * Sears (141,719 sq. ft.) * Kohl's (76,400 sq. ft.) * Burlington Coat Factory (156,906 sq. ft.) * Cinemark * Wild One Harley Davidson * Round One Entertainment Former Anchors * Wieboldt's (closed 1987, replaced by JCPenney in 1988) * MainStreet (converted to Kohl's in 1989) * Montgomery Ward (closed 2001, replaced by Burlington Coat Factory in 2002) * Marshall Field's (converted to Macy's in 2006) * JCPenney (closed May 3, 2014, now vacant, 144,731 sq. ft.) * Macy's (closed March 26, 2017, to be demolished for Woodman's Food Markets, 141,958 sq. ft.) * Carson's (closed August 29, 2018, now vacant, 139,564 sq. ft.) Location 152 Stratford Square, Bloomingdale, Illinois, 60108 Gallery Videos File:The Collapse of Carson's Tour of Carson Pirie Scott at Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale, IL|Carson's Closing Tour File:STORE TOUR Macy's, Stratford Square Mall, Bloomingdale IL (FINAL DAYS)|Macy's Closing Tour Photos Round One At Stratford Square Mall.jpg|Round One Entertainment Category:Malls in the United States Category:Malls in Illinois Category:Shopping Malls Category:Malls that opened in 1981